Pascal Malachi Frey
Thursday, May 08, 2014It was 10pm on May first and we had just finished an exciting game of Yahtzee with my sister and my (step) niece Taylor. It was officially 6 days past my due date and to be honest I felt like I was going to be pregnant forever! But when we lied down to go to sleep I started to feel some stronger contractions then I had been having over the last 2 weeks. I had been having sparatic Braxton hicks contractions for quite a while at this point, but these were different. So I mentioned to Nick that we may be having a baby, and we started the preparations.
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| Room all set up |
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| Kathy checking Pascals heart beat |
So this, combined with the fact that there was meconium when my water broke meant that we needed to head to the hospital.
We made it to Royal Alexandra hospital in good time and made our way up to the maternity ward where the OB confirmed our midwives suspicion about the babies face presentation. I would like to mention that our midwife Kathy is amazing, she is so caring and encouraging.
She stayed with us the entire time and is just such a steadfast person. She really is such a blessing and we are so thankful that God placed her in our lives.
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| Kathy, Pascal and Nick |
So anyways at this point I was having strong urges to push but was not allowed because the baby's face was stuck and it could put the baby in distress.
At this point we chatted in between contractions that with a face presentation it would be very very difficult to deliver this baby naturally and thus it was recommend to proceed with a c-section. We quickly agreed as there were many factors pointing to this being the best decision for us and our baby.
So after signing some papers and trying to make my way through contractions without pushing (which I'm not going to lie is quite difficult) about 40 min later I was being rolled down to the operating room where they were all ready to perform the c-section.
I quickly got a spinal tap which was fantastic. It almost instantly took away the pain... Or really any feeling, and I was able to relax. It felt really good just to be able to lie there and be able to think a little more clearly about what was going on than I had been able to. I really feel like God continued to pour down his peace on me during all of this and I knew that He was in control.
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| Pascals first 'Selfie' :-) |
Soon after Nick was all scrubbed in, he came in and sat down beside me and we were able to talk and be together through the entire operation. The entire thing took about 40min. It turns out that little baby Pascal was quite stuck and it actually took a bit of effort to get him out. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times and had been pulling his head back which is why he had a face presentation. So no matter what, we would not have been able to deliver him naturally because he was literally stuck. But with some convincing they were able to get him out and unwrapped and Nick was even able to go over right away and take pictures of him and then they brought him over for me to see. So at 4:55am on May 2, weighing in at 8lbs 3oz and 20.5in our son Pascal Malachi Frey came into the world. He had quite the bruse on his face from where it was pressed, I'm guessing, against my pelvic bone but babies heal so fast and it was gone within the next 24 hrs.
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| First moments in the world |
We hung out together and I got all sewed back up and then Nick and our beautiful boy went off to the nursery as I was moved to recovery where I was monitored for about an hour and a half. I had a good amount of internal bleeding (I think because of how much effort it took to get Pascal out) but didn't need a blood transfusion just some extra looking after.
The entire crew of Doctors and Nurses were so fantastic and took such great care of us. It was fun to realize that everyone in the operating room except the anesthesiologist were women and most likely moms them selves. Nick said that as soon as Pascal came out and everyone saw the cord wrapped around his neck so many times it was a chorus of 'oh poor guy, what a tough baby'. It was encouraging to have so many caring ladies in the room with me.
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| First time holding my son |
While in recovery Dr. G came in and she told me that we had made the right decision and that we had not done anything wrong nor was there anything we could had done to prevent this.
I was then moved to a regular room where Nick and Pascal soon came to join me. I was able to hold and snuggle with him for the first time and just be able to enjoy him. Somewhere in there I was told that I would have to be in the hospital for 3 days. I think this was my only moment of shock... Lol. I'm not to sure why it was so surprising but it was. Maybe cause we technically still had a baby shower / birthday party planned for the next day and that I did want to be able to go to. But alas I had to send Nick and Ruth as my representatives.
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| Ruth blowing out her birthday candles |
The 3 days in the hospital were a bit of a blur of sleeping, eating and trying my best to walk back and forth to the bathroom. We feel so blessed for all of the help we have had mostly from my sister and my mom who did a great job of looking after Ruth and bringing things to the hospital that we needed.
After 3 days and getting all of the different approvals and checks we needed we were officially discharged Sunday (May 4) afternoon. It felt so good to finally be home in our own space and to be able to finally see Ruth again. She was so excited to see her brother and I think she indeed knows that this baby is 'her baby' and just loves him so much.
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| My mom, Aunt Lydia and Ruth going to the Park |
So I just want to thank everyone so much for your love, support and prayers for us during this process we really could not have done it without such an amazing support team.
We are so excited to finally be a family of 4!!
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| Nick, Pascal and my ID bands. Officially a family |
1 comments
so nice! isnt it amazing to have such a holy and God-filled birthing experience. Love it! Congrats to you all. And, great name! :-)
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